In 2017, the same judges who approved the interim maps in 2012 agreed with the challengers that the maps were the product of intentional discrimination.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in the state's appeal that the lower-court ruling is a "remarkable decision that defies law, logic and fact."

In urging the justices to ratify the decision by the three judges, civil rights groups said that almost all the districts at issue were originally adopted by Texas lawmakers in 2011 and were rife with racial bias.